I keep harping on the theme that real estate is hard. Today’s thought on the topic is about all the times that I’ve heard people say that the goal is to build the best workplace possible when it comes to design. I’ve heard it from PMs, Architects, Interior Designers, Brokers, Consultants, you name it. Everyone is trying to sell “the best workplace possible.”
Here’s the thing about the word best: it’s fuzzy. Best has no meaning of its own. You are asking the person you are talking with to fill in the details. They will likely jump to their personal definition of what the best environment for them looks like. When you talk to a business manager, best to them means lots of things because each of their people works differently.
Balanced, on the other hand, means dealing with the tradeoffs and opportunity costs that are inherent in a workplace. If money was no object, then each person in the office could have anything they want. But money is always an object. Tradeoff number 1 is always about managing to a budget. Tradeoff number 2 is about designing a workplace that doesn’t have to be redone every three years because you made it so specialized for how people work today that is unusable if the business changes even slightly. Tradeoff 3 is about who gets to own the design. The business has a set of criteria, real estate has a set, business leaders may have a different set, colleagues have another. No one will have quite the same definition.
When you strive for “the best” of anything, you will always fail. Best changes with the times and has an ephemeral answer. You can’t do it with consistency or over time. Setting that as the standard cannot work.